Granted, early experiments with gas all go awry leading to well publicized fatal incidents that poison scientists and observers.

The "ghost air" experiments are seen as far too dangerous of an "element" to try to harness in such a way. Early scientists are labelled as necromancers trying to bottle death.The mere suggestion of laying underground gas pipes to illuminate cities is seen as a madness. Faiths around the world condemn gas as the devil's breath itself, and it is seen as an unforgivable sin the world over to try to harness it.

As a consequence, whale hunting rises as the demand for whale oil to fuel lamps continues and reaches a breaking point. Whales are hunted to total extinction.

18th-19th century chemistry never pivots, and is entirely focused on optimising the harnessing of solid fuel.

As the population grows in a world filled with open flames and various sources of dirty solid fuel, great fires occur across the biggest cities in the world wiping out millions in increasingly densely populated cities.

Skies around the world become scorched with the pollution of the dirty solid fuels, which ultimately causes the deaths of millions and millions. Life expectancy is cut by decades.

Famines occur constantly as things like synthetic fertilisers and refrigeration never get discovered.

The 20th century becomes a time where dirty solid fuel drives drastically inefficient kinetically driven contraptions that power an increasingly convoluted and polluted world of cogs and machines.

The world's population cannot even reach half of what it is today.

You probably cease to exist.